Of course, food labeling also comes into play as bakers seek to market their low-sodium efforts. Hart outlined the following definitions, as mandated by the FDA.

Sodium- or salt-free means the product contains less than 5 mg of sodium per serving. Sodium-free foods cannot contain sodium chloride or sodium unless accompanied by an asterisk that refers to a footnote, such as adds a trivial amount of sodium.

Low sodium means the product contains 140 mg or less per a referenced amount.

Reduced or less sodium means that at least 25 percent less sodium per referenced amount is included per an appropriate reference food.

“So you can't reference something that's excessively high in sodium as the reference product. You have to compare like for like,” Hart says. “Sodium has to be reduced based on original formulation and the finished product has to be essentially still the same.”

Light in sodium means the sodium has been reduced by at least 50 percent per the referenced amount. And very low sodium means the sodium content is 35 mg or less per referenced amount.

The use of the term light on sodium-restricted foods is permitted, if the food is low calorie, low fat and sodium is reduced by at least 50 percent per referenced amount, Hart says.

But to achieve this kind of labeling status, bakers will need to make some compromises with formulation and, perhaps, flavor.

“You have to put something back in and formulate correctly to make these low and reduced sodium claims,” Hart says. “Pulling sodium out is one thing, but putting something back in that until it delivers acceptable flavor is the challenge.”

And it is a challenge, considering AHA, AMA and FDA statements, that won't be going away for volume bakers anytime soon.